


Welcome To The Lab

by SandrockTrinity



Category: Hatfilms, The Yogscast
Genre: Gen, Hatfilms - Freeform, Yoglabs, yogscast - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-16
Updated: 2014-08-28
Packaged: 2018-02-13 10:27:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2147277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SandrockTrinity/pseuds/SandrockTrinity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Trott, Ross and Smith wanted somewhere to relax before they began a new adventure. But one night Trott is awoken to a stranger in their house, when he wakes up again he finds himself in a lab.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Stranger Danger

_It had never supposed to happen this way. All they had wanted to do was go on a little adventure and now they ended up here, trapped in the clinically white lab rooms with no escape. No physical contact was allowed… Well not the contact they craved. They were family and they cared for each other but when that family was taken away and tortured and you could not do anything it was heart breaking… And all this happened because they wanted a new adventure._

It had been a normal day for the young men of Hatfilms. They had been looking for a new place to live, nothing special or that would attach themselves to a pre-made village; no they had wanted a new home, made from scratch. They had come close to finding the perfect place for them to live. They had set up home in a large plane biome that was surrounded by a thick dark forest, perfect for hunting wild animals for them to eat. They had been happy there and they immediately got to work building a small shack until Ross had the resources to build them a grand home to live in. From there they would plan out their next adventure, they were excited… That was until the night drew in.

The first person to have noticed something was up was Trottimus. He had been asleep in the small shack in their joint bed; Alsmiffy and Ross had decided to spend the night mining. It would make more sense that Trott could spend the next day finishing for food in a small pond that was near to their base. Trott had not long been curled up in bed, warm and comfortable having most of the bed to himself since the other two weren’t with him. He had sighed contentedly to himself and began to fall into a deep sleep. That was until he heard a door open with a loud swing. Trott had assumed that it was Alsmiffy or Ross who had come back up the trap door with a full pack to drop off in the chest next to the bed. Trott didn’t think much more of it until he felt a chill run up his spine. He knew the mines could be cold but he had never experienced it this cold before. Cracking his eyes open slightly Trott noticed a figure walking around in the darkness of the room. Assuming one of his companions had forgotten torches, Trott sat up in bed.

“Guys?” He asked quietly while rubbing his eyes. Instead of hearing a reply Trott heard a smashing of a flask somewhere near him. Thinking that it was Alsmiffy dropping some loot Trott looked closer at the figure only to see that it wasn’t Alsmiffy, nor was it Ross. It was in fact a man he had never seen before, most of his features were covered as Trott’s sight went black and he struggled to see just in front of himself. Trott rubbed his eyes trying to see, there was someone there with him. Trott pushed himself as far away from the man as possible, but that wasn’t very far. As he heard movement in the room Trott began to flail around trying to keep himself safe. He went to open his mouth to scream, in hope that one of his friends would hear him but before he could say anything a gag was placed into his mouth. Trott continued to struggle even with the gag in his mouth; he had to get to Ross and Alsmiffy. He couldn’t see and he was panicking, he wasn’t thinking clearly. Before he could calm himself, Trott found himself being pinned to the bed and tied down. He struggled as much as he could but whoever this man was who had startled Trott now had reinforcements.

“Keep him quiet,” whispered one of the men. “The other two might be near and we can’t afford a fight.”

“They’re in the mine,” whispered another man from behind Trott. “Take this one back to the lab and we’ll get Borg to catch the other two. Get moving!”

* * *

 

While this had happened Alsmiffy and Ross had continued mining away for some resources that would help them create their new home. After everything that had happened to them it was no wonder that they wanted to be away from people and create something that were theirs and theirs alone. They needed a place like this and Ross was ready to do everything in his power to make sure that their new home would offer them comfort as well as protection. There was a plentiful supply of marble and cobble stone for him to continue his building without any problems. Alsmiffy on the other hand was searching for minerals that he could use in his Thaumcraft, he had only recently learnt how to create new items and hopefully that would aid him.

Ross rubbed the sweat off his brow and turned towards Alsmiffy who was mining some iron ore that they may need later. “I think that’s enough for now,” Ross suggested as he picked up the last of the cobble stone that he needed. “Let’s head back and empty the pack.” Smiffy nodded and picked up the remaining ore before looking back down the mine shaft himself and Ross had walked. Smiffy walked briskly back down the shaft followed closely by Ross.

Ross stopped a little way down the shaft watched the ground. A few stones shook by his feet causing him to frown. Ross looked around himself and saw nothing that could have caused the stones to move. Maybe the shaft was unstable. Ross continued after Smiffy and stayed closer to the ginger man than he had before, just in case the mine did collapse. After walked for a bit longer the two came to an intersection. Had they come this way before? Both Ross and Smiffy looked down both paths but neither could remember.

“I don’t remember this,” Smiffy said as he examined the path on the left. If he was honest he hadn’t been paying that much attention. “Did we come this way?” Smiffy turned his attention to Ross who shrugged his shoulders as he examined the right path.

“No,” he spoke softly. “I don’t remember coming across more than one path… We didn’t even turn.” Ross rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. They had to be lost. Maybe they could pass by another chamber and not noticed, but that was very unlikely. Neither path was lit with torches either which made their choice that little bit more difficult. Ross made sure that torches were placed though; he had been on such low health that he couldn’t afford an encounter. Ross looked down at his feet as if it would give him an answer. He sighed and looked at the ground around him. Sturdy enough with no ores dug out, a few stones here and there. Ross blinked and looked at the stones, they were moving again.

“Ross…”

Ross looked up at Smiffy and watched him point in the direction they had come from. Ross looked down the empty corridor filled with torches but he couldn’t see anything. A rumble echoed around them shaking the loose rubble around them. Smiffy and Ross looked down the corridor trying to find the source of the noise, but they couldn’t see anything. At least, not until a shadow in the distance began to form. Within a few moments the shadow formed into a zombie…

“It’s just a zombie,” Ross stated as he watched the created come closer.

“Not a normal one,” Smiffy added as he drew his sword. As the Zombie drew closer both noticed it become larger than the normal zombies they had encountered in the mine. It must have been twice the size or Smiffy and Ross put together.

“RUN!”

* * *

 

Trott groaned as his head was pounding against his skull. What had happened? That man! He was going after the others. He had to get out of here! He had to warn Ross and Smiffy. Trott flexed his fingers and attempted to open his eyes. Everything was dark and slightly out of focus, almost like he had woken up very early in the morning, but this wasn’t the effect of the morning, it was from that potion. A potion of blindness. Damn he should have known that. Trott began to move his limbs but they couldn’t move very far from his body. He tried to lift his right arm but something was binding them to the surface below him. His wrist was strapped down by his hip and his arms were tied close to his body. Trott shook his head and attempted to see. This time it worked, apart from a little darkness he could see he was no longer in the shack that he had built; instead he was in a bland white room. There was a door on the far side of the room. Trott noticed he was tied down to a table, a medical table? Maybe… Trott began to struggle against the restraints, but they wouldn’t budge. Whoever had put him hear knew exactly where they needed to hold him down at. Trott had been studying medicine for a while and knew the points of the body that needed to be held down to render the body useless and it seemed this person knew too.

“I see you’re awake,” a voice called from near the door. Trott looked up to see a man wearing a red coat followed by a man in a lab coat entre the room. Trott didn’t pay attention to the latter as the man in red appeared to hold an air of authority over the other. Plus the way he walked over to Trott made him realise that he was behind his kidnapping.

“Sorry about the trouble my men caused you,” he said with a fake smile on his face. The man walked over to Trott’s side and stood there looking over his body. “I didn’t mean for this to happen." Trott didn’t say anything to the man. Of course he had meant for this to happen. Everything had been well executed apart from Trott waking up. This had to be the brains of the operation. “So tell me what is your name?” He asked and leant his arm on the table. Trott didn’t answer and just looked over the man. Under his red jacket was a blue and white shirt. He was relatively tall, almost as tall as Ross. Slim, but not as slim as Trott. Dark brown hair covered his head and lower face. His eyes were shinning blue with something malicious in them.

The man smirked noticing Trott’s lack of speech. “Why were you in that cabin? You seemed to be very quick at getting resources and setting yourself up quickly. You had iron weapons in a matter of hours.” Trott did not speak. The reason they were so good was because they worked together and delegated different tasks, that’s why they were so good. Trott glared at the man and refused to even utter a word to the man. The man in the white lab coat appeared to be writing details down on his little check list. Not once did the man in white look up at him or even ask any questions. “Where you looking for something? Did someone send you?” Why would someone send people to a field? And why would that be such a problem for this guy? If it had been his land they would have moved, there was no need to keep them locked up and restrained. Trott turned his head and looked away from the man to the plane wall on the other side. It was much more interesting than the smirk on this man’s face.

The man sighed with frustration and stood away from Trott and over to the clip board the other man held. He took a few moments to read over the notes on it. A smile creped on to the man’s face as he read the information collected on Trott. He kept his eyes on the paper and spoke.

“You and your friends are quite capable aren’t you?” He asked. Trott visibly twitched as he listened to the man. “You are the brains and they follow, is that right? It would be a shame if something were to happen to them.” Trott growled and looked back at the smirking man. What kind of a monster was he? To use his friends against him; what did he want?

“Where are they?!” Trott snapped at the man, his eyes full of hatred for the mysterious man. The man looked at Trott and smirked. A reaction is just what he needed. “If you touch them I’ll-“

“You’ll what?” The man asked as if Trott’s threat meant nothing to him. Trott growled as the man walked over to him. He leant down to Trott and smiled at him like he had when he first entered. “Your friends are fine. For now… We’ll deal with you all when the time comes…”


	2. Captive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being captured in this strange lab is not something Trott wants to deal with for much longer. He has to find the others and escape. But how can he when he is being watched constantly.

After the man in the red coat left Trott had been subjugated to many medical and scientific tests; most of which Trott had never heard of before. They took samples of blood from his arm and took hairs from his head as well as checking his temperature to see for any problems. Although these seemed basic enough, Trott wondered what they were gaining from this, or why they were doing this. Were they going to use him for experiments? If so he hoped that Smiffy would blow up something quickly. If not where they trying to get his information for if he ever returned to their base.

After the experiments were done Trott found himself released from the table and cuffed before dragged down a long white corridor to somewhere. Trott ignored the strange looks that all the scientists gave him as he was escorted to Notch knows where. Trott couldn’t believe the amount of space and rooms he had to pass; the amount was more than could ever be used. What are these people doing? Better yet, why are they keeping him here? From what Trott had seen they were creation new instruments for survival and weird power systems. Why did they need him here? Being shoved around the corner Trott noticed how quiet it had become. This must have been a holding area since the amount of people wearing white lab coats had decreased and other men in overalls began to appear. Many of the men he now encountered gave him a sympathetic look, as if they knew what was going to happen to him. If their expressions were anything to go by then Trott was in trouble.

Soon Trott was taken to a long corridor with jail cell doors lining the corridor. This must have been where they would put him. Was he their prisoner? Had they treated him any differently? Why? He hadn’t snuck in to this facility; they had taken him from his home. Trott had done nothing wrong and he was being treated like a pile of dirt. The men dragged Trott to the far cell on the right and took off the cuffs. The door was swung open and Trott was pushed inside. The men slammed the door behind him as his knees hit the concrete ground and left without saying a word.

Trott looked behind him in the darkness. Shit! This was really happening. Trott winced as he felt the scratch on his knee tear more as he moved his leg to stand up. What was he going to do now? This room was too dark to see. Where were the others? Was Trott going to be on his own? He hopped now. He needed his friends. He needed his family.

“Trott…”

Trott looked at the wall opposite the door. It was lined by three empty beds that didn’t in the slightest look comfortable. Slouching at the side of one of the beds was a figure. The source of the voice! Trott squinted and took a cautious step forward. The figures clothes were in tatters as if they had just fought a load of creepers. Trott looked at the dark mop of hair on the man’s head. It was black as the night covering pale skin. Ross…

“Ross,” Trott whispered as he walked over to his friend and knelt down next to him. Trott noticed that Ross seemed out of breath as if he had been chased all the time he had been tested on. Ross looked up at Trott and that’s when Trott saw the full damage that his friend had taken. Ross’ face was covered in small scratches and his left eye was beginning to form a bruise. His jacket had been taken off him leaving him in is tattered white shirt covered in blood which only just held onto his body. His left arm had a large gash in it, which looked like it hadn’t been tended to. Ross right leg was also held out straight in front of him and Ross let out a little whimper if he attempted to move it even slightly.

“I’m glad you’re safe,” Ross whispered as he attempted to keep his breathing under control. A small smile spread on his lips as he noticed his friend was not injured. Trott on the other hand was mortified at the state of the architect. Ross usually kept himself immaculate, even when mining. To see him like this was a rarity. “They didn’t hurt you?” Ross let out a cough that signified that his chest must have taken a beating or otherwise he wouldn’t be in this much pain.

“No,” Trott replied as he looked over Ross’ body. He needed to tend to as much of the wounds as he could. “Let me help you with these.” Trott gently moved Ross so that he was lying on the bed. Trott had cringed at the painful cry from Ross when he had tried to put pressure on his leg. This wasn’t good. It must have been broken or fractured. Quickly Trott tended to all the wounds he could and as best he could. There was very little that could help him. He had no potions to stop the pain, no water to lean the wounds and nothing to tie the scars up. Best he could do was clear up the cuts with his shirt and tend to the leg and Ross chest. Trott slowly slid his hands up and down Ross’s leg. From the looks of it there was no break, which was good. But that also meant that it was much likely to be a fracture causing Ross so much pain. After that he moved to Ross’ chest and noticed all the bruises over his chest. What had hit him? What had caused so much damage to Ross? Trott had yet to ask what had happened and Ross had yet to explain. There didn’t seem to be any damage to Ross’ ribs but that didn’t explain his difficulty in breathing. Maybe the hits had shaken his body and only now the affects were beginning to show. That seemed logical.  “There’s not much I can do,” Trott explained as he avoided Ross’ gaze. He couldn’t help him. This wasn’t good. Ross needed medical attention and fast. “Sorry mate.”

“Don’t be,” Ross chocked. “You didn’t do this.” Ross ended up in a coughing fit which left him even more drained. The bags under Ross’ eyes told Trott that he hadn’t gotten any sleep since before they were captured. Ross winced as he leaned back on the bed.

“You need to rest you twat,” Trott explained as he leant back away from the bed to give Ross room to breathe. Ross’ arm reached out for Trott and weakly grabbed the sleeve of his shirt.

“Don’t go...”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Trott smiled at his friend who struggled to keep his eyes open. Trott sat on the edge of the bed and held Ross’s hand as sleep consumed the architect. He needed rest and there was nowhere for Trott to go even if he wanted to leave his friend being.

Questions raced through Trott’s mind as he watched over the sleeping Ross. What had happened to him for this to have happened? Had the men who captured Trott beaten up Ross too, or had they found Ross like this? Why hadn’t Smiffy helped Ross? Where was Smiffy? The ginger man had gone with Ross mining and it was very rare that they split off from each other or even went too far from the other. Had Smiffy managed to get away? Had he tried to get back to Trott but failed? Was Smiffy in the same state as Ross? All these question ran in Trott’s head but there was no one there to answer them. Damn it! Why couldn’t these men leave them alone? They had done nothing.

 

* * *

 

 

Sometime later Trott found himself waking up to the noise of protest and the slamming of doors. He must have fallen asleep while watching over Ross as he was now laying next to the injured man. Trott looked over his friend to see that very little had changed in his health, although his breathing seemed to have eased a little. Trott looked at the door and listened closely to the noises coming from the other side of it. The sounds of someone screaming echoed in the room and the grunts that sounded every so often left Trott to assume a fight had broken out. Trott sighed and stayed next to the man in the bed. There was no point in moving for something that wasn’t going to save them.

“Let me go!”

With a loud crash the door swung open causing Ross and Trott to jolt up right, much to Ross’ regret afterwards. The light from the other side of the door blinded the two men as they watched the shadows of two guards throw another man into the cell with them. The ginger man landed with a thump and a groan. Without a second glance the guards shut the door and left the three in peace. The man with ginger hair growled as he lifted himself from the floor. He didn’t look happy, but who could blame him when he was thrown into a prison for something he didn’t do.

“Looks like we’re all here,” Trott said softly as he stood up from the bed. Trott made sure not to hurt Ross as he moved off the bed, the jolt would have affected him enough as it was. Trott looked over Smiffy’s body and couldn’t see any serious injuries apart from a few scratches. He seemed to be moving about fine and there was very little blood on his clothes. Smiffy looked at Trott and smiled.

“Well your very useful, Trottie.” Smiffy smirks as he walks over to the two. He pats Trott on the shoulder before sitting on the edge of the bed next to Ross. “How you doing? You really took a beating for me. Cheers mate.” Smiffy seemed to closely examine Ross’s injuries. Smiffy turned around to Trott and began to explain what happened to them. How they had been mining and on the way back a giant zombie had attacked, rendering them trapped in the cave. They had tried to take him down with magic and their weapons but nothing seemed to work. The zombie had tried to kill Smiffy but Ross had jumped in at the last second and taken the blow, explaining how Ross had all his injured.

“You dull twat,” Trott laughed as he watched Ross lay back and rest. He still looked exhausted after the fight and even after sleeping for a little. At least they were all together now, but that didn’t explain what was going to happen to them next. Trott wondered if the men were going to let them out. Maybe not, with all the experiments going on around the place and the medical samples they had taken from each of them surely meant that these scientists had no intention of leaving the three go free. They needed to think of a plan, and quickly.


	3. Yoglabs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Experiments are one thing, but when you use a persons friends against them to break their minds is far worse

It had been three days, or what the boys assumed was three days, had gone by since they had been locked in the cell. They had only been let out to relieve themselves and for Doctors to tend to their injuries. Neither Smiffy nor Trott had been too happy about them trying to take Ross away from them. It had ended up with Smiffy being restrained and thrown back into the cell with cuffs around his wrists so no one would be hurt. However, one doctor had taken petty on them and let Trott stay in the room but he had to be cuffed to a table, claiming that it was for the doctors own safety. After they had healed Ross’s injuries both were escorted back to the room. Over the next two days Ross had healed up well, although his leg did twinge if he stood or moved around for too long.

The darkness was starting to drive all three crazy, at least 23 hours a day they were in darkness with only a little light escaping through the cracks between the door and the bars. Their food and drink was brought to them but any time they were escorted anywhere the guards were less than careful with them. One time Trott’s glasses had been broken because a guard had pushed him and with his hands cuffed he couldn’t catch himself. Another time one of the guards had shoved Smiffy against the wall causing the ginger man to have blood trickle down his head. It was safe to say that the safest place for them at the moment was in the cell, where the only thing that could get to them was each other. They never wanted contact with anyone else; they just wanted to be in each other’s company.

In the back of their minds, something kept grinding away at the conscience; the fact that they were going to be experiments in this lab sooner or later. For the moment the scientists seemed content with keeping all three together, but it wouldn’t be long before they would separate them. If that happened their dependence on each other would grow but they wouldn’t be able to satisfy it. They weren’t stupid, they understood what would happen. These scientists would separate them, to torment them, weaken their resistance against their experiments until they were too weak to even fight back. They couldn’t give up though, they couldn’t let these men take away their freedom, they had to fight; for each other…

It didn’t take very long before the man in the red coat had visited the three. This time he had no interest in talking to them and getting answers. This time he brought a large group of men with him. Was he trying to scare them? To make them cower and obey, or was it to force them into the next phase of their confinement.

“I must say you three are all impressive,” the man smirked as he looked up at the young men all sitting on one bed, as close as they could. Their guards were up and all were prepared to attack anyone who came near them. “An architect, a mage and an engineer,” he laughed as he watched a few of his men entre the room prepared for their commands to take the young men away from each other. “I couldn’t have asked for better test subjects.” He waved his hands at one of his men to command him forwards. One man walked towards the three and reached out to grab Trott. As soon as that arm was within reach, both Ross and Smiffy leapt at the man to knock him to the ground. Ross got to his feet quickly as more men advanced on their position. Smiffy stayed on the ground and hit the guy who had attempted to get his friend. They could do this; they could fight off the men. They could escape!

Two men approached Ross, one swung to hit Ross in the head but quickly he dodged and hit the man out of the way. The second man swung at Ross knocking the architect off balance giving the first man a change to swing at Ross’ leg. Ross collapsed to the ground with a piercing scream as more damage was done to his leg. Ross tried to stand but the two men caught him and held him tight against the wall.

“Ross!” Trott attempted to knock one of the men holding him away but a new man who had entered the room grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back and pulled tight on it. Trott whimpered before using his other arm to hit the man. Even when his elbow made contact with the man’s stomach he didn’t flinch. What was with these men, why were they so strong?

After knocking out the first man Smiffy stood and went for the man in the red coat however the man seemed to be ready for Smiffy’s attack as he pulled out a gun and shot at Smiffy. The gun shot echoed around the dark room halting Ross and Trott in their struggle against their captives. Both turned to see their tall friend on the floor before the man in red holding his chest tightly and wincing.

“Smiffy!” Trott called out as he tried to move the man off of him so he could see his friend and get to him. The man in the red coat laughed as he watched Smiffy feebly struggle with two men who quickly pinned him down and made him helpless.

“So much fight in you,” he spoke and walked over to Smiffy. He knelt down next to him as the men holding him cuffed his hands behind his back. “I must say I’m impressed. You’ve proven more than perfect for our experiments.” The men who hadn’t been involved in the fight walked over to Trott and Ross and restrained them in the same way. This man didn’t want to take any risk of the boys running away or fighting back. He had been ready for them to respond this way. “Welcome to the Yoglabs programme boys.” The man brushed some dust off of Smiffy’s shirt before standing to his full height. The men turned to the men holding Trott and Ross. “Take them to the good Doctor and don’t let them see anything.” A group of nods came from the men before Trott and Ross began to struggle once again out of their grip. They had to break free. None of their kicks or shoves seemed to affect the men at all. These men were far stronger than the average Minecraftian. Ross growled at the man in red. He wanted to rip his throat out and make sure that he could never hurt anyone again. Ross’ attention was drawn to the men blindfolding Trott and moving him out of the room.

“Trott!” Ross cried out as he used all of his strength to escape from captors grasp, even with the pain in his leg he wasn’t about to give up. Trott called out to Ross in fright as he was dragged away from the room. “Get off me!” Ross screamed at the men as he fought against them. No he was not going to become a lab rat. He was not going to submit to their torture. He was not going to let his friends get hurt. The men’s grip tightened on Ross holding him almost perfectly still as another man blindfolded him. Ross struggled harder; if they were going to hold him against his will he was going to make it hell from them.

“Make sure they don’t have direct contact with each other.” The man in red commanded. No! Just like Trott had said, they were going to break them down by separating them. They could do this, they were family. Ross glanced over at Smiffy who was glaring at the man in red. Ross wanted to call out to Smiffy but he felt a fist connect with his jaw. A growl left Ross’ throat as the pain throbbed in his cheek. Ross glared at the man who had done it before he was blinded. With darkness clouding his vision Ross listened to what was happening next. He felt his should get pushed before the men holding him began to drag him out of the room. Ross listened to the sound of struggling and shouts of protest. Smiffy didn’t want Trott or Ross leaving the room.

“Let them go!”

* * *

 

It seemed like hours he had been strapped down to the table in the lab. Since he had left the cell all Ross had been able to focus on was sounds around him. Mostly it was basic things like typing on a computer or the sound of people walking; but other times there were a few conversations that he listened into that didn’t quite make sense.

“The morphing process isn’t quite up to scratch. To do it now would risk the subject’s lives.”

“That’s not our concern.”

Ross didn’t quite understand what the morphing experiment was but from the looks of it, he wasn’t in the room where it was happening. Luckily for him that was. Hopefully Trott and Smiffy weren’t in that room either. From the bits of conversation he heard they needed someone with the perfect DNA and health to be able for the morphing process to work. For some reason though, the men seemed to be struggling to find the correct kind of person. Was this why they had captured them?

Ross’ thoughts were interrupted at the sound of someone walking up to him. Ross flinched as he felt the person hold his arm. What Ross would have given to be able to punch these people in the face! He wanted to kill the people for ever touching him and his friends and he was more than happy to let Smiffy have a flint and tinder to burn this place to the ground. Ross felt something soft swipe over the crease in his elbow, cotton wool? Ross tried to move his arm to get a little leeway but there was no budge. Two hands held his arm tightly as if the restraints weren’t enough to keep him down. A prick stabbed him and Ross froze. What was that? A lump got caught in his throat as liquid seeped into his veins. Ross hated being near doctors as it was, let alone to have a needle being stabbed into his. As the needle was taking away a sense of panic swept over Ross and he began to struggle. They were drugging him. This was stupid, if they had just left him alone this wouldn’t have happened. Ross struggled but the more he did the more tired he felt. Anaesthesia? Sleeping potion? Whatever it was it was shutting Ross’ body down quickly.

“Sir, all three are ready for the tests.”

“Good, send this one to Doctor Vanguard. He can deal with this one.”

“Right away.”

No… Darkness began to consume Ross’ mind. Be strong, he had to be strong. He couldn’t break. He wouldn’t break.

“Trott… Smith…”


	4. Experiment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gasp chambers and limbs not working at all, what is happening to the Sirs? These experiment are killing the boys slowly

Once Smiffy had been blinded and taken out of the cell, he had been placed in a testing lab. Immediately his blind fold had been taken off, once the guards were sure that he was strapped down to the table. He growled and snapped at anyone who attempted to come near him. Quickly a doctor had pricked him with a syringe filled with a strange chemical. At first Smiffy suspected that they were going to put him to sleep, however it seemed that all the drug did was relax his muscles. He could still move them just fine but they felt heavy, like he had spent a day mining in the caves. Once the men were sure that Smiffy couldn’t fight back or injure anyone the guards unstrapped him and he was moved to another part of the room. Smiffy tried his hardest to fight the drug in his system so he would have the strength to fight the men, but apart from a weak struggle he couldn’t do anything.

The room appeared to be full of strange contraptions and awful smelling chemicals. Along the right walls were a line of computers with all different charts and reports on something Smiffy didn’t understand. On the opposite wall were men looking at different chemicals, which must have been dangerous considering they were wearing hazmat suits. What room had they taken Smiffy too? However what was opposite the wall to his escape sent a chill down Smiffy’s spine. There in front of him was a giant container filled made out of hardened glass. On top of that was a pump which attached the glass cage to a large chamber filled with chemicals. Smiffy’s heart beat quicker as he realised the chemical chamber had a large warning sign on it. Were they going to kill him? No they said he was an experiment, were they going to pump him with different chemicals to see a reaction? Was this truly his fate? To be locked away forever in a glass cage? No he was not an animal, he would not be trapped. Smiffy’s feeble attempts at trying to escape and fight didn’t faze the men and they didn’t seem to notice that he even tried. Smiffy repressed a whimper on his lips so they couldn’t see the beginning of his defeat. One of the panels on the glass flew open and the men tossed Smiffy inside. By the time Smiffy could get a hold of himself the glass door was closed and there was no escape for him.

He sat up in the centre of the room and he looked around him. There was very little to take notice of. He close see the people outside just as clear as when he wasn’t in the room, although he could only hear the people when they stood a few feet away from the glass or closer otherwise everything sound muffled as if he was under water. The temperature of the room was cooler than the lab was. Maybe it was a way of keeping Smiffy from sleeping so they could get the results they wanted. After long Smiffy could hear the hissing of the gas come on, but something told him not to panic. As if there was something inside of him reacting to the chemical. Smiffy had stayed calm which seemed to irritate the guards watching him, they complained about his lack of panicking. According to one of the scientists the chemical already inside of Smiffy would calm not only his muscles but his nerves, almost like a way to counteract a panic attack. In the field of medicine this would have been an incredible substance, so why wasn’t it known outside of this lab? After about 10 minutes Smiffy began to feel a twinge in his arm. It wasn’t anything bad or painful, more irritating. It felt like his arm was leaning on a trap nerve and it was sending a strange electric feeling up his left arm. Smiffy tried to ignore it but he couldn’t and he began rubbing his arm to sooth the pain; not that it really helped.

After an hour or so the gas was stopped and the door to the chamber swung open. The guards stepped inside to cuff and blind Smiffy again. This time Smiffy didn’t fight, his limbs were still weak and he began to feel sleepy. Quietly he let the guards lead him to Notch knows where. Smiffy was abruptly stopped before the cuffs and blindfold were removed to show a new holding sell. Instead of concrete walls and an iron door, it was a much larger room; still as dark as the other but it was bigger. There were no beds, only three blankets and a pathetic excuse for a couple of pillows. Smiffy was dragged over to the far wall were a couple of handcuffs fell. The chains were long on them meaning Smiffy could easily move around the room. The cuffs were placed on him and without a second glance the guards left him alone in darkness. His forearm still itched as he sat in the room. He lent up against the wall and let his eyes close. He was so tired, but what had the chemical done to him? He hadn’t seen any affect apart from his sleepiness. Was it a new chemical to make people fall asleep? Maybe…

* * *

Ross’ head pounded as he began to regain consciousness. What had those men done to him? Ross opened his eyes slowly and noticed he was in a dark room. It wasn’t the same one he was in before but it had a figure that he recognised in there with him. He lifted his neck to see he was leaning against a wall. His wrists were chained up to the wall behind him and the chain snaked around him. Ross looked to his left to see a sleepy looking Smiffy chained to the back wall. They were together? Thank God that the man hadn’t stuck to this command.

“You alright mate?” Smiffy called as he looked over at Ross. Ross craned his neck, apart from that and a splitting headache he seemed fine.

“I’m alright,” Ross answered as he took in the rest of the room. “Yourself?” Smiffy smiled at him before nodding his head and shifting his body.

“Apart from exhaustion, I’m just fine.” Ross nodded before he shifted his weight to his right side so he could get up. Before he think though he found himself face first on the floor with himself screaming in pain and the muscles in his arms and legs feeling like they had been ripped to shreds. He whimpered and cursed as he looked up at Smiffy who was standing with a look of fear etched into his face. “Ross mate…” Ross attempted to move his arm but it hurt more than anything he had experienced before. Slowly Ross pushed himself off the ground and forced his body up against the wall. He whimpered and gasped as the pain didn’t stop when he stopped moving his body. “You… You alright mate?” Smiffy asked taking a step towards him. Ross looked up at him and a whimper left his mouth as he tried to move. “Shit,” Smiffy replied as he took another step forward.

The door was slammed open against the wall and both looked over to see two new guards entre the room with a blinded and cuffed Trott between them. Both paid no attention to the two occupants of the room and took Trott over to the other wall and shackled him there. Nothing was said between any of the people in the room. After Trott was shackled they removed the blindfold and immediately left the room. It took Trott a while to focus his eyes without his glasses. When he seemed to notice the other two his eyes widened.

“Smith, Ross…” Trott jumped to his feet and began to walk over to his friends to inspect them however the chain on the wall halted him abruptly. He looked back at the chain and looked to the others. From here he couldn’t tend to Ross on the other side of the room, who from Trott’s perspective looked paler than usual. Smiffy looked over at Trott and slowly walked over to comfort the older boy. But Smiffy too was halted by the chains. There was a good meter between the boys when they were the furthest they could be from the wall. This would mean that Smiffy wouldn’t even be able to tend to Ross either. None of them could reach each other. Shit! All of them would admit that positive physical contact is what they thrived on. It’s why they were so close and why when the men had come close to them in the last cell they had been so close. Being together and in close quarters gave them confidence. When you had spent the last few years living and relying on each other it was difficult to know you could never have contact again.

* * *

 

Days had gone past and the same routine had somewhat become normal for them. Ross would be the first one led from the room to be experimented on, and then two hours later he would be returned to the room knocked out. Then the men would take Smiffy out of the room and place him in the chamber for an hour. After that Trott was then taken out of the cell for his experiments and once he returned Ross would be awake and unable to move without screaming in pain. Ross claimed that his body hurt a little less every day but somehow Smiffy didn’t believe him. Once they had settled in the cells they would be given food and water, very little but it was enough to sustain them.  After that each would be taken to have check-ups by a doctor then they’d return to the cell for the rest of the day. Mostly they’d spend the time talking, as much as they could, whether it be about Thaumcraft, Buildcraft or even Marble it kept them entertained. They’d talk about anything and everything, apart from what was happening to them. One of the reasons was that Ross didn’t know what was happening to his as the scientists put him to sleep every time he went to them but also because Trott and Smiffy didn’t want to admit what was happening because both had started to see an affect happening to them. Trott’s symptoms were having subtle and so it was only inkling when he noticed he was gaining more resistance to certain experiments that the men did to him. Whereas Smiffy’s were starting to become obvious, especially the large red rash that had begun to grow on his arm, the scientists had started bandaging up his arm to make sure the injury was clean.

None of them would like to admit it but these experiments were starting to break each one of them slowly, piece by piece. Their lack of contact or ability to check over each other to see how they were was beginning to worry all of them, besides the fact that Ross could barely move his body when he regained consciousness but also the fact that they all knew they were being abused was killing them inside. Their talks were helping just about. It was giving them piece of mine and was keeping them calm, but it wasn’t enough.


	5. Contact

“Mister Xephos, Dr Vanguard is here to see you.”

Xephos looked up from his desk to see the doctor walking through the door towards him. Dr greeted him with a nod before taking a seat in front of the desk. Xephos moved his work out of the way and leant forward to listen to the results of his new experiments.

“So?” Xephos asked.

Dr Vanguard smirked at the man in red before placing a large pile of documents on the table in front of his boss. The results of every experiment so far had been documented on the paper as well as the results however minor they were.

“Each one has responded positively to the tests,” Dr Vanguard explained as he Xephos took the file to examine for himself. “The mage has responded well to the chemicals placed in his body; however he has begun to have a few skin problems which are being treated at the moment.” Xephos looked at the mages file. Everything was being placed in to him at a high level, if things continued this way then the skills that he would gain from these experiments would be incredible. “The engineer is responding to the morphing programme quicker than we had expected. We had estimated the time frame to take 3 months but it hasn’t been a month yet at he is at a capacity of 75%. If we continue at this rate he will be able to morph within a week.” Xephos looked over the engineers file, it had been quite lucky for them to find the boy, he had the perfect genetics for this to happen and that had pleased everyone at the labs. This would be the biggest breakthrough they had all year, if the boy survived the experiment that was.

“What about the architect?” Xephos asked as he picked up the documents pertaining to the dark haired man. The Doctor stayed quiet for a few moments before looking at the room.

“He was not compatible with any of the experiments that we tried.” Dr Vanguard explained and folded his arms. He turned to look at his boss. “We created a new experiment it has had a dramatic effect of his body. His strength has grown significantly however it does mean after the process he is in severe pain.”

“You’ve given him in humane strength?” Xephos asked wondering if that had been a waste of time creating or not. They didn’t need strength as they had Borg and a supply of clones if anything went wrong.

“In a way yes,” Dr Vanguard continued. “We’re examining whether these processes can be done without much change to the body structure. There for meaning he’d retain his physical form but his strength would grow. This would make it easier for him to blend in to his surroundings and under estimated by his enemies.” An interesting concept which could be useful to them in the long run. Xephos smiled, he was certainly pleased with the results. These boys would become perfect weapons in his goal to control the world. All that was left after their completion was for them to be tested. They had plenty of worlds were they could test these boys.

“How long until they are ready for testing?” Xephos asked as he placed the documents neatly back in the file. The doctors look became stern as he understood his boss’ concern for their completion. He didn’t like to send out experiments, especially new ones, in to the field so early after completion.

“Three days for the process to be complete but if you wish to use them as weapons and clones then we will need a few extra days.” Dr Vanguard explained calmly to his boss. Xephos seemed pleased with that answer. Now to get the boys ready for the trauma that was to come.

* * *

 

Smiffy’s arm was getting worse. Every day the redness grew bigger and bigger until the point of his entire arm having to be bandaged up leaving only his wrist and his shoulder exposed to the open air. From what the doctors had explained to him it was a simple irritation to the chemicals, most likely due to an open wound on his arm. In time it would be fixed but that didn’t please Smiffy one bit. For Trott the changes were still subtle so the other two weren’t noticing physical changed but inside Trott knew he was changing. Very subtle things like the way his mind was processing things differently especially living things. He could see the weakness and strengths in all of them just by a glance. He had also noticed that his ability to breathe while near water or any liquids seemed to have gotten better. When they had been allowed to clean themselves up, he had been able to hold his breath far longer than he could ever remember possible. Ross’s body was getting better at dealing with the pain. He could use his arms and legs slightly but if he had to put a large amount of pressure on them he would hiss in pain, but the pain had been getting better, especially over the last few days. The boys hoped that soon they would be able to escape this place and seek help in ridding themselves of these effects. But they still could not think of a plan as they didn’t know the lay out, nor did they have any tools to help them escape.

The door to the cell opened and in walked the two guards ready to take Ross away like every morning. First they blinded him before cuffing him and dragging him out of the room leaving Smiffy and Trott alone in the darkness.

Ross walked alongside the men quietly as usual, hoping that if he remained quiet he could hear something important that may help him escape. However, something was different this time for Ross. He noticed that the journey was slightly different. Instead of taking him right and then down a long corridor, they took him left and down some stairs. Was this a new experiment? Maybe a new testing room? Who knew…

Ross was placed in a new room only this time instead of the men placing him on a table and then tying him down, this time they sat him on something and left him there. There was no sound in the room at all. His hands were cuffed behind his back and the blind fold was still on him. This was new… What were they going to do to him today?

A few minutes later the sound of the door opening echoed in his ear. Someone was walking, alone, in to the room with him. The person stopped in front of him. They did not say anything, nor did they touch him. The silence killed Ross as he knew the person was examining him. A sigh was heard from the man and he walked to the other side of the room. A buzz sounded.

“Send in experiment 413 and experiment 7077,” man called out. He must have been speaking down a mic. Who was this man and what experiments was he talking about? The footsteps began and were coming closer to Ross. He didn’t flinch, nor did he attempt any communication to the man. He had given up trying to talk to the people. A piece of material was shoved into Ross’ mouth and tied behind his head. Ross tried to move his head to stop the man but the man’s force was greater. “Don’t struggle,” he spoke. “What is about to happen will not physically hurt you. Although, mentally I cannot guarantee that you will come out of this saner.”

The sound of the door echoed and the sound of footsteps echoed in the room. Two people? The steps went past Ross further into the room. The sound of someone being forced to sit echoed. Moments later the exact same sounds echoed only they halted in another part of the room. Ross listened closely to each sound, and by the sounds of it there were six people in the room including himself.

“What I’m about to do is for your own good,” the same man begun again. “You have been blinded and gagged for your safety and the safety of others. In a few moments my fellow workers and I will remove the cuffs from you. If you attempt to hurt us the guards outside will instantly enter and will do as they see fit to make sure you do not hurt us.” The man seemed calm as he gave instructions to Ross. Ross listened closely and hoped he could get the full meaning of the man’s directions and intentions from his voice. “Also if you hurt us in anyway or attempt to kill us before we leave the room then the safeties of your friends will not exist.” This man was going to hurt Trott and Smiffy if Ross attempted an escape. It wasn’t worth it. Taking on three or more men was not something Ross could do. He had no choice but to agree. The man walked around Ross and un-cuffed his hands. Ross lowered his hands to his side as he listened to the sounds of other cuffs being released. Three sets of footsteps headed for the door. “Enjoy.” The man said and then the door shut.

Silence ran through the room. Ross was in there with the two experiments. Were they dangerous? He hoped not. He didn’t want to fight anyone who may be in the same situation as himself. Ross listened to the sound of someone moving. From the sound of it someone was removing the cloth from around their eyes too. A gasp was heard. Ross couldn’t hold his curiosity back anymore. He removed the cloth from his mouth before he removed the blindfold. His eyes slowly adjusted to the light and there in front of him was something he hadn’t seen in a while. Trott and Smiffy were in the room with him. Smiffy was adjusting to the light in the room where as Trott was standing up looking at both his friends.

Ross attempted to sit up from the table he had been placed on but his legs still hurt too much for him to be able to freely walk on his own. Trott noticed quickly and rushed over to him. Jumping on to the table next to him Trott wrapped his arms around his friend in a massive hug. They were together. Ross slowly wrapped his arms around Trott and held him as much as he could. Trott noticed that Ross wasn’t holding tightly, were his muscles that badly damaged? Trott pulled away slightly and looked at Ross’ exposed arms. They were read, as if he had been caught in a heavy rain storm. They didn’t look damaged but still they hurt him. Internal injuries… Trott sighed. Who had done this and why? Why bring them together after so much torture just for them to see the damage that had been afflicted. This was the first time Trott had been able to see to any of their injuries and quite frankly he was terrified.

“Nice to see you too, you twats,” Smiffy’s smirked as he walked over to the table and jumped up next to Trott. He smiled at them for the first time in ages. He wrapped his arms around both of them and held them tightly. The other two responded the same. They were together again. They had contact; they had each other’s contact. They were safe there in their small embrace. They weren’t hurt and no one was threatening them. They had this limited time together where they could be with each other and not have anyone else. The way they had wanted this to be. “I’m so glad your both safe.” Smiffy whispered as his grip tightened on them. He didn’t want to believe that this wasn’t true. He had to keep a hold on them so he knew they couldn’t be split apart. They couldn’t be apart, not after this. Even if this was only a few seconds the fact that they would go back to that dark cell and not be able to embrace each other terrified them all. The man’s words were right. After this there was no guarantee they would be sane…


	6. Tomorrow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Left in the room alone the Sirs begin to forget what is happening around them, that is until a friendly reminder of the danger we are in walks through the door

All three felt safe as they sat close to each other. The room had been locked since the scientists left the room, but no one seemed to disturb the boys as they had the time to themselves. Was this some kind of trick to get them to think they could be safe locked in this room? Or had someone taken petty on them and placed them here for a few moments of peace and comfort? Either way the boys didn’t care. They wanted to enjoy their time with each other as much as they could.

“What exactly happened to your arm?” Trott asked as he placed his hand on the bandages wrapping around Smiffy’s arm. Smiffy looked down at the bandages not truly wanting to explain everything in detail as to what the experiment was, but he had to explain something about his injury.

“I had a reaction to one of their experiments,” he explained looking at his arm, “something to do with an open wound.” Trott looked at Smiffy’s wrist and saw a small bit of red skin poking out of the bandages. Was Smiffy having some kind of allergic reaction? Must have been, but why was it only affect his arm. Trott moved his hand away not wanting to irritate the injury too much. “Hey at least I can move it.” Smiffy joked.

“Fuck you, you twat,” Ross glared at him as he shifted slowly to not injure himself too much. Smiffy gave Ross a really weak shove gaining him a smile from the architect in return. They were interacting the way they use to. As if they weren’t in trouble or danger, back in the olden days when their biggest worry was a creeper blowing a hole into the side of their little house. It distracted them. Making jokes and picking on Trott. It made them happier than they had been in weeks. Their joked continued on for a while and their laughter rang through the room having not left their lips in so long.

They were comfortable and relaxed in their small room that was until the door to the room opened. In to the room walked a scientist with a large tray of food. The man didn’t acknowledge the boys as he placed the tray down on the stool Trott had sat on before turning to leave. The door shut quickly behind him once again leaving the boys alone. All three were tense and their smiles had disappeared from their lips. That man had broken their little bubble and now reality sunk back into the boys minds. How could they have forgotten so quickly all the pain they had gone through for a few moments of happiness. In the back of their minds the worry of what would happen to them began once again clawing at their conscious, making them fidget and become stoic. It took all three a while to lower their guard and stop staring at the food. Smiffy was the first to move over to the food and bring it to the others. Trott helped Ross so they could sit on the floor and have the small meal. Quietly they ate their meal, not one looking at the other but their surroundings. There was a reason they were put in this room, but what was it? Hopefully their answer would come soon.

The door opened and all three turned with their guards up high to see a young doctor walking into the room with a gun in his hand. The door shut behind him, this guy was taking a risk coming in with them. The man stayed close to the door not risking it, especially with the glares that were boring into his skin. Trott recognised the doctor, it may have been a while but it was the one who let him stay with Ross when they were first brought here. Trott didn’t speak as he watched the man closely.

“I’m not here to hurt you,” the man spoke quietly as he raised the gun defensively at the boys. His hand shook out of fear of what the boys could do to him. Smiffy smirked,

“Already done that mate.” Smiffy stood up and placed himself between the doctor and the others. Trott stayed close to Ross in case they would need to move. Smiffy glared at the man and wished that the gun would disappear. “Just leave us alone to have peace before you place us back in the darkness with no contact.” A growl left his mouth as he finished the sentence.

“I repeat, I’m not here to hurt you,” he explained and placed both hands on the gun. He paused for a brief moment wondering if he could shoot the ginger man before he reached him. “You’re not going back to the dark room that is a fact.” Smiffy’s guard lowered slightly at the statement. What did that mean? Were they going to be let go? “But what is to come will be far worse than that room. The boss wants you to become his weapons. Those experiments are to enhance your skills.” Smiffy folded his arms and held down a growl. He had guessed that the experiments were doing something to his body but he couldn’t have been sure of that till now. “Tomorrow they will come and the final part of the experiments will happen. You can’t go back to the way you were. Ever…”

“Why tell us? Are you trying to mock us?” Trott asked as he placed an arm around Ross. He didn’t trust this guy. That gun wasn’t helping the situation at all.

“No,” he answered and lowered the gun. “You won’t remember this, but whatever they say or do to you get as far away from this lab as possible. Understood?” The man didn’t leave them time to respond as he quickly left the room and locking the door behind him. Silence covered the room as Smiffy’s shoulders relaxed and he turned to his friends.

Tomorrow… That was it… Tomorrow their free will would end and their friendship… Well there was no say. Tomorrow they would face their fate.

Ross’ mind couldn’t stay still on one thought. He raced through different possibilities of what could happen, whether they would be together; were they going to have different forms; were they going to stay in the lab; were they going to remember. To Ross it was so confusing, so many things he wanted to do and yet here he was the night before his end would come. It was hard to swallow. They were young and already it looked like they were at deaths door. Trott’s arm tightened around Ross’ shoulders and in return Ross put his arm around Trott. This could possibly be their last night together. Smiffy knelt down in front of them and drew both friends into his arms. He held them as tight as he could. He wanted to keep them as close as possible until the end.

* * *

 

Xephos looked over the documents for the plan tomorrow. It would begin with making sure the boys were taken to the memory room. There their memories would be wiped and the boys would be knocked out for that. When that was done the final part of the experiments could be completed. He smiled to himself as he thought of how his new weapons would work if placed in to different environments.  He still needed to search for a place where the boys could learn how to use their new abilities; it would take time for them to completely learn them. Maybe somewhere they didn’t need the abilities so their bodies would have time to accept the new gifts.

“Forsaken Lands,” Xephos whispered to himself. That was the perfect place for them to be trained. Very little technology and magic, usually it was used to train beginner soldiers against creepers and skeletons but this was a perfect place to train them, and they could be easily watched.

* * *

Smiffy didn't know what time it was but it must have been late in the night when he was awoken to the sound of a machine powering up. He had heard the noise before when he had been around the lab but this was the first time it had disturbed him in anyway. Smiffy looked around the room and saw that they were still in the room they had been locked in all day. Looks like no one attempted to move them while they were vulnerable. Smiffy looked at both his friends flanking him. Trott was lying on his side facing Smiffy, using Smiffy’s arm as a pillow. On the other side Ross was curled inward on himself, most likely a subconscious way of trying to protect himself. Smiffy smiled as he saw how peaceful they were. They were all curled up to each other like a litter of kittens. A sigh escaped Smiffy’s lips as he looked at his bandaged arm next to Ross. He raised it in the air and watched it. He expected something to happen but it didn’t. To Smiffy the injury was more important than what he was being told and he knew that. He had glanced at it a few times when the doctors had cleaned it up. Some of it didn’t look right and he knew that it was due to the chemicals inside of him. Smiffy lowered his arm onto his chest and sighed again.

The room was cold and the floor wasn’t helping the matter. Smiffy placed both his hands on his friends’ skin and noticed they were cold. Many times in the cells all three had complained about how cold it was and the others couldn’t do anything about it. They couldn’t even play footsie as Smiffy had discovered while trying to light the mood. He wrapped his free arm around Ross and pulled both friends closer to him. Hopefully his body heat would keep them a little bit warmer. Neither stirred by Smiffy’s movements but both seemed to smile as Smiffy held them. There wasn’t much more Smiffy could do. He just hopped that he could give them this moment where he could protect them and make them feel safe and warm. 


	7. Forsaken Lands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trott, Ross and Smith wanted somewhere to relax before they began a new adventure. But one night Trott is awoken to a stranger in their house, when he wakes up again he finds himself in a lab.

His first thought as his mind began to wake, it was warm. He had grown accustomed to a chill running down his spine when he woke up. The sheets that usually surrounded his body didn’t give anything to him when he woke, nor when he attempted to sleep. The dark cell was cold and draftee, he hated it. But, the warmth that spread all over his body calmed him. It was strange how a difference in temperature can change your perception of safety. His body drew in on itself slightly, he was so relaxed and didn't want to open his eyes. He didn’t want to see the outside world, not if he could hold on to this feeling for a little longer but his mind forced him to wake. He should be aware of his surroundings, even if his body begged to stay in this safe haven of heat. Slowly his blue eyes opened and his eyes met a white room. This wasn’t his cell but it was still the lab. A sigh escaped his lips as he looked to the heat source next to him. His two friends were sleeping soundly all curled up like a litter of kittens, so dependent on each other even without them consciously knowing the truth. He smiled and sat up from where he had been leaning on Smiffy.  
Ross smiled to himself and rubbed his hand over his neck. It was a little stiff, probably from sleeping on the floor. Ross lowered his arm and looked around the room; nothing had changed from the night before. Seems the man who had placed them in the room had let to return and deliver their fat. Another sigh fell from his lips before he turned to look at his friend. They were so peaceful; it had been a while since Ross had seen them so relaxed. What was he to do? Sit and wait for the others to wake up, or maybe try and sleep? Ross couldn't think of what to do, since they had been captured this had been the first time he had woken up before the others. He sat there for a few minutes pondering what to do, what was he supposed to do? He had been told that today he would meet his end that his life would finally be over. Should he enjoy his remaining time enjoying his friends company, even if they were asleep, or should he sit and imagine all the things he could have done?  
“Ross…” Ross turned to his side and saw Smiffy looking up at him. His eyes were half lidded and his voice was hors. Smiffy gave him a small smile before pulling on the back of Ross’ tattered shirt. “Relax… It’s early…” There was no way Smiffy could know what time it was, everything in sight was artificial, but Ross knew why he was doing it. He was making the decision for Ross to relax before everything began. Ross let Smiffy drag him down and wrap his arm around his shoulders. Ross’ head now lent on Smiffy’s shoulder and away from the injury. Ross looked over at Trott sleeping with his head resting on Smiffy’s stomach. They really had curled up like a bunch of kittens. Ross looked up at Smiffy who smiled down at him. “We have time…” Ross didn’t know if Smiffy was referring to how much time till their end or that they had time till they could try and escape. Did it matter? No… Ross closed his eyes and let Smiffy’s breathing lull him back to sleep. Maybe he could have some peace as he slept. Just a few more moments of deciding their lives was a tall request and hopefully some power would give them those moments.  
~~~  
What a fool! How could he have done something this stupid! To let those boys be away from the experiments for one day meant that they were now behind, they would have to speed up the experiments today. Thy needed to use double chemicals today, hopefully that would get them back on track, or at least he hopped.   
The door to the lab room opened him, his guards and other scientists walked in to the room. The first thing he noticed was how far back in the room the boys were. Originally they had been sleeping in the center of the room, now they were as far away from the door as physically possible. All three were tangled together in the far corner. The mage sat in the middle as he usually did with both his arms around the other two and his glare was piercing. The architect was glaring too but his body barely moved to react to his entrance, most likely his body was still injured from the experiments. The engineer however did not look at them, he kept his eyes on his friends, and he looked broken. How sad that it would come to this, to create these weapons they had broken all three of them.  
“So we finally found you,” a voice called from the back of the group. Dr Vanguard was shocked to hear his boss’ voice come from behind him. His boss moved to the front of the group and smirked at the boys. Smiffy let a low growl rumble in his throat. He wanted to murder that man more than anyone he had met before. "I hope you're all rested because your time is up." He raised his hand and snapped his fingers. One of the guards stepped forward with another man held in his grasp. It was the scientist who had come to see the boys yesterday. He looked petrified and his body didn't stop shaking. So he put them in the room, did that mean he was on their side? "I must say I'm quite glad you have had a day to relax. It means you are well rested for what is about to come, but-" He snapped his fingers again. A gun fire echoed around the run. The shock of the sound pulled all three boys together and held on tightly to each other. When a loud thud hit the floor Smiffy looked up to see that the scientist was on the floor with a pool of blood around his head. They shot him in cold blood. "But he did disobey orders." Another growl escaped Smiffy's lips as he held on tighter than ever to the other two. "So, shall we begin?"  
~~~  
After some struggle the boys were taken to the new testing chamber. It was far bigger than any of the rooms the boys had been in before and for once they were all in a room together, not that it really helped them. In front of them as they entred were two large gas chambers with chairs in them. The chairs had restraints on them and Smiffy had a suspicion that once they sat in there it was game over. Over on the left there was a table set up with wires linked to computers. Smiffy didn't have a clue what they were for but he knew they would be dangerous. Ross and Smiffy got pushed to the side of the door and shoved on to their knees.  
Trott had been the first one moved to the table on the far end. There he was strapped down and wires were placed on specific points on his body. Trott didn't look at the others as the men began the experiments on him. Even now after all this time they didn't want to know what was happening to each other because of haw traumatic it was with their own grief. Trott was there for 10 minutes before the men walked over to him and injected his neck with a green substance. All the while Smiffy and Ross were held down so they couldn't interfere. They were forced to watch the checks over Trott. As they released the bindings on Trott his head fell to the table and his eyes closed shut. Ross had called out to Trott in fear that he was passing out from a poison which earned him a knock around the back of his head from one of the guards. Ross hissed in pain before looking back at his friend.  
"Put the smaller one in the testing chamber on the right." The man in red ordered as he folded his arms and watched his men run around like busy bees. Carefully one of the guards picked up Trott and placed him in the chamber. Straps were placed around his legs and arms holding him firmly in place, not that there was need for restraint. Smiffy knew what that stuff was, it was the muscle relax that they had used on him many times so he wouldn't fight back. Once the guard was finished the chamber was closed behind him not to be opened until all were safely in dispose. "Next one," the man ordered and the guards pulled Smiffy away from Ross. "No!" The man snapped and bared his teeth at the guards. "The other one!"  
"Sir," one of the doctors Smiffy had come to know as Vanguard intervened. "If the other one is placed under first there will be no room for the other." Smiffy shared a glance with Ross. Neither understood what was going to happen, nor what they meant by there would be no room if Smiffy went first.  
"I want to try something different," the man in red said. He walked up to Smiffy and stood at his full height. Only slightly shorter than Smiffy the man was certainly intimidating. "You're magics powerful, isn't it?" Smiffy didn't reply, he merely glared at the man. He wouldn't even give him the satisfaction of a simple response. "Let's see how well your magic does against the machine." Smiffy blinked. What did he mean by that?  
"But Sir-"  
"Silent!" He shouted over his shoulder at Dr Vanguard. He returned to looking at Smiffy. "Magic against science. My friends always argue which is better. Why don't you demonstrate to us?" The man in red stood back and looked at Ross. His dark blue eyes looked in to Ross' ice blue ones. His smirk widened as he saw the fear in his eyes. "Strap him down and drug. Understood? The taller one doesn't need the drug." A chorus of yes sirs from the guards prompted the moment where all three would be separate again. Ross struggled as he was lifted and dragged to the table while Smiffy was taken to the other chamber. Smiffy looked over at Ross as he heard his friend scream for them to release him. It fell on def ears.  
Smiffy was thrown in to the seat. His arms and legs were restrained along with an additional strap being placed around his chest. Smiffy winced as the guard placed the restraints a little too tightly around him. Without giving a second glance the guards left him and shut the chamber. Smiffy looked over at Trott to see the smaller boy unresponsive in the chamber next to him. To his other side he saw as four guards held Ross down while the scientists placed restraints on him. Smiffy had to give it to him, Ross was getting stronger. Smiffy looked in front of him and saw the man in red and Dr Vanguard standing watching his cell. They were talking but Smiffy couldn't quite make out every single word. Something about not having the drug inside of him and there was no guarantee he'd come out exactly the way they wanted. It didn't seem to matter, to them Smiffy was just another material to throw away. He watched as Dr Vanguard waved his hand at his men and the hissing sound of gas began to encircle him.   
Ross screamed as the men at the men as they tried to hold him down on the table, he swore how he would kill them if they didn't let him go and see his friends but no one listened. He didn't want this, none of them did. Here he was having to watch his friend enter that chamber and himself be restraint. It took four men to hold him down so the doctors could restrain him.  
"Shut the boy up," called the man in red. Ross swore at him before his head was held in place so the gag could be placed between his lips. He continued to struggle against the bindings even as the guards left him in the hands of the doctors. Quickly the doctors placed the wires on to his skin, making sure they were in the correct place while attempting to maneuver around Ross as he attempted to escape. He looked over at Smiffy and watched as gas poured into the chambers that Trott and Smiffy were in. Panic halted his body as he watched the gas encircle his friends. They were trapped in those gas' and there was no way for them to escape. This is what had happened before, wasn't it?   
Smiffy looked down at his lap. Slowly the gas seeped in around him and consumed his body. As usual his arm began to get the strange feeling of a trapped nerve. The basic stuff nothing compared to usual, still Smiffy's mind wondered. What was this experiment suppose to do? Apart from his arm nothing on him had reacted... His arm... Of course, his arm had been the only thing affected no because of an infection but because it was his skin that was being affected by the chemicals. His arm began to sting a little, like the sensation of having pins and needles in his arm, but it was beginning to spread to his legs and other parts of his body. It was spreading all through out his body now but he had never once felt pain. Smiffy jerked and hissed as a large shock went up his arm, it felt like a sunburn being slapped. It hurt, but there was more to come. The longer he was in that chamber the more he was beginning to see how much that drug had helped him. He growled and looked ahead at the man in red, his eyes covered by his ginger hair, eyes shinning with the intent to kill. Smiffy would make sure that the man would die by his hands one day.  
A whimper fell from his lips as he lowered his head and tried to pull on the restrains, no budge. Smiffy looked over at Trott's chamber filling with gas as well. No sound came from Trott as the drug had rendered him unconscious. Smiffy turned to look at Ross who was now strapped down and watching him. A scream wrenched through his ears and it wasn't until his lips met that he realized it was him who had screamed. A tear fell from his eye as he looked away from everyone. His face burned and his skin was raw. He needed to escape. The pain was too much...  
Ross cried out to Smiffy as he watched his friend scream in pain. Smiffy's skin was read as if he was facing a lot of heat and he was struggling so hard to escape. The cries of pain ripped through Ross' body as he had to listen to his friends screams of agony. Smiffy was crying, Ross could see it. Ross had never once seen Smiffy cry until now. So much pain and he continued to scream as Ross could only imagine the pain he was going through. Ross blinked back the tears that threatened to fall from his eyes and in a moment darkness shrouded the entire room. The noises of the machines stopped instantly and the hissing of gas slowly came to a halt. One final scream from Smiffy was heard and the sound of an explosion echoed somewhere in the building.  
The lights flickered back on and Ross' eyes slowly opened. A sense of panic had been cast over the scientists and they had gone running over to Smiffy and Trott's chambers. They all crowded around the glass chambers so Ross couldn't see what was happening. Ross struggled with his binds as he tried to get free while everyone was distracted. A hand held Ross still as it wrapped around his neck. Ross looked up to see the man in the red coat standing above him. He smirked down at Ross' defenseless form.   
"I must say I am once again impressed," he commented as he looked at the tray of tools sat next to Ross. Ross looked down at the tools and back up at him. What was he going to do? Ross had never once been awake of conscious while in the experiments, he didn't even have an inkling to what was happening. "You're friend caused a power cut and it stopped the machines from finishing the experiment. Although it may have saved you from any further testing it may have just cost both your friends their lives." Ross struggled against him and closed his eyes. He didn't want to look at this guy or the lab anymore. His friends didn't lose their lives and it wasn't because of Smiffy. The mans grip tightened around Ross' throat. No he wouldn't accept it! "Don't worry, you'll see them again." A sharp sting hit Ross' neck as the man injected him with the substance that many times had knocked him out before. "Hopefully..." The man pulled away and Ross slowly felt his eyes become heavy and his sight to blur. "Sweet dreams architect."  
~~~  
Since the end of the experiment Xephos had been bored. There was not much he could do while the boys were hopefully being cloned, their memories erased and their transfer to the Forsaken Lands. He twisted his pen in between his fingers as he blankly looked at the documents he was suppose to be signing. That boys magic had certainly done a lot of damage to the labs. True the architect got out but was that something he could live with, knowing that he caused himself and his friend to now be in this form? It didn't matter, none of them would remember the lab, nor would they remember their past forms. A knock came on his door and in walked Dr Vanguard. The doctor stayed in the door way as Xephos looked at him.  
"It is complete Sir," he said looking down at his chart. His eyes scanned over the documents while Xephos leaned forward in his chair. "Experiments 7077, 413 and 3055 have all been placed in to the cloning chambers along with a memory erase of the specific features required. At the moment they are being teleported to the Forsaken Lands."  
"Perfect..."  
~~~  
Ross' head was spinning as he slowly began to gain consciousness. What had happened? It was warm. His palm closed and he felt small grains seeping through his fingers. Sand? He slowly opened his eyes only to look in to a clear blue sky with the sun shining brightly down at him. He blinked and slowly sat up. He looked to his right to see two figures next to him.  
The first man was strange, in a nice blue suit and a red tie around his neck, he looked like he was about to go on a date with a girl or to a fancy party. What was strange through was his physical features. He had no mouth, or at least no mouth that Ross could see as he heard the man groan. His eyes slowly began to open and there he saw shocking blue eyes dizzily look above them. The second man was stranger still, clad in a doctors suit it was a strange thing to find in what Ross assumed was a dessert. But to also see that this man held features that were commonly seen on a walrus was perplexing to say the least.   
Alsmiffy...   
Trottimus...  
Those were the names that came to his mind as he looked upon them. They were friends and had been for a while. Ross smiled, that's right. He remembered, they had been traveling for a while until they came to this place. The Forsaken Lands, was that it? He though it was. Slowly both sat up and looked at him. A smile spread on Trott's face and the glint in Smiffy's eyes told Ross that he was happy. Let the adventure begin...


End file.
